Lithuania, U.S. Company Discuss Shale Gas Production

Lithuanian Energy Minister Arvydas Sekmokas disclosed on 14 June that he had held talks with a U.S. company about beginning shale natural gas production in the energy-poor Baltic state.

Citing a confidentiality request by the U.S. company representatives, Sekmokas declined to name his partner in the discussions.

According to a statement issued by the Lithuanian Energy Ministry, "Major companies are ready to invest on condition of clear bilateral obligations, which shall be assumed both by the state and the production companies," the Baltijos Naujienos Akcijos news agency reported.

Shale natural gas production has become an increasingly contentious practice in the United States because of environmental concerns, highlighted in the 2010 documentary “Gasland,” which contains imagery of landowner concessionaires igniting water from their faucets, claiming that its produced by shale production pollution, a charge the industry strongly denies.

Sekmokas’ contac is the second U.S. firm to express interest in Lithuania, as last month he met with representatives of the U.S. shale gas producer Cheniere.

Sekmokas told journalists that U.S. experts estimated that could eventually extract about 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas from its shale deposits worth up to $30 billion.